Bronson Kaufusi Position Switch? New York Jets Defensive End Lands on Offense

The New York Jets pulled off the unusual in moving Bronson Kaufusi from defensive end to the offensive side of the ball.

For Bronson Kaufusi, a switch to the offensive side of the ball will hopefully bring him more action.

Kaufusi, a New York Jets defensive end who has played all nine games of his NFL career over the past three years on defense, is now a tight end. Jets head coach Adam Gase confirmed the position switch in a question asked by New York Post reporter Brian Costello on Saturday morning.

Kaufusi, who has five total tackles, half a sack and a quarterback hit over his two playing seasons at defensive end, has been moved to tight end after impressing the coaching staff with his athleticism.

“We moved him to tight end. He was he was killing us on scouting last year and he’s a guy that we feel like gives us a lot of flexibility,” Gase said on Saturday during his virtual press conference.

“One, we felt like he could learn the position. We felt like that we could develop a role for him. And then at the same time, he’s a guy that if we ever got in trouble, and he was on the roster, and he was a tight end, if we had numbers go down on the defensive line, we know he could always go back over there and play a little two-way football.”

The move of Kaufusi comes as the Jets are going through the inevitable rash of injuries in training camp. So far, however, tight end Chris Herndon has had a good camp according to Gase and tight end Ryan Griffin, so solid for the Jets last year, just came off the PUP list.

So the move of the defensive end to offense is likely trying to maximize a player with great athleticism rather than any really concern for depth at the position.

A third round pick of the Baltimore Ravens in the 2016 NFL Draft, Kaufusi missed the entirety of his rookie season after breaking his ankle.

Coming out of high school, Kaufusi was a four-star defensive end who committed to BYU. He was the No. 74 player in the nation according to Rivals.com.